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/ 22 December 2005
At 102 years of age, a dodgy hip and respiratory problems might be considered par for the course. But for Albina Cruces, the repercussions of her ailments have been far-reaching, finally bringing to an end her 87 years as a school teacher. The oldest school teacher in Mexico, and perhaps the world, has taken voluntary retirement.
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/ 22 December 2005
Proponents of ”intelligent design” vowed on Wednesday to continue their battle against the teaching of evolution in United States schools despite a stinging defeat in a Pennsylvania court. Supporters also claimed the case will increase curiosity in intelligent design.
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/ 22 December 2005
Shares in MTN Group extended their winning streak to reach a fresh all-time high of R62,50 in early trade on Thursday on the news that the JSE-listed cellular operator is part of the consortium vying for Egypt’s third mobile-network licence that would compete with Cairo-listed Vodafone Egypt and Orasscom.
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/ 22 December 2005
The American state of New Jersey has become the first in the country to require random steroid testing in school sports in an attempt to halt the growing use of performance-enhancing drugs that some experts estimate affects as many as 8% of high-school athletes.
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/ 22 December 2005
A broad-based group of Sunni and secular parties called on Wednesday for a rerun of last week’s Iraqi elections, claiming the ruling party in the country had engaged in blatant fraud. By Sunday, more than 1 000 witness statements of violations had been sent to the election commission.
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/ 22 December 2005
United States President George Bush was forced late on Wednesday to settle for a face-saving compromise on a key counterterrorism law that fell far short of his goal to see it expended indefinitely. Republican and Democratic senators agreed to extend the main provisions of the USA Patriot Act for only six months.
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/ 22 December 2005
The Eastern Cape health department has identified a possible 179 ghost workers on its books, which could mean savings totalling R1,59-million a month. A departmental spokesperson made the announcement on Wednesday at the end of a month-long exercise in which staff were asked to collect their pay cheques in person.
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/ 22 December 2005
The European Union on Wednesday called on the transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to forge ahead with elections after voters gave overwhelming backing to constitutional reform in a referendum, according to partial results. The referendum is but a ”starting point”, the EU said.
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/ 22 December 2005
The United Nations on Wednesday balked at claims by a Zimbabwean Cabinet minister that the world body had designed a substandard home to house victims of a clean-up blitz that left hundreds of thousands homeless. The state-run Herald said the minister described the house as ”below human dignity”.
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/ 22 December 2005
It was a tearful reunion at the Johannesburg International airport on Wednesday night as two South African air-crew members held captive in Equatorial Guinea for more than a month were reunited with their family and friends. The two had been held in the country since November 17 as pawns in a commercial dispute.